Happy Halloween: MORE Spooky Levels in Non-Horror Video Games

A creepy chill is in the air, and that only means one thing--Halloween is here once again. Three years ago on this very day, SuperPhillip Central took a ghoulish glimpse at some truly terrifying levels that came from non-horror video games. Allow SuperPhillip Central to once again treat you to our trick of providing even more spook-tacular video game levels from the most unlikely of games. While you probably won't be shocked and scared to your very core, perhaps you'll occasionally feel a chill run down your spine from reading this list.

Be Afraid of the Dark - Yoshi's Crafted World (NSW)

I can imagine younger players enjoying the bright and bouncy, happy-go-lucky levels of the relatively recent release of Yoshi's Crafted World for the Nintendo Switch, and seeing that delight on their faces turn to sheer fear, dread, and utter panic once they arrive at one of the late levels of the game, Be Afraid of the Dark. As the level name suggests, players should stick to the light, because if they don't, axe-wielding dolls will charge at them, chasing them mercilessly until they reach the light. Thankfully for Yoshi, these enemies brandishing axes can't enter the light, but unfortunately for Yoshi, the level likes to play a lot of tricks, including turning off lights suddenly, introducing several jump scares, and having an ending dash to the finish where Yoshi is pursued by an army of raging maniacal axe-wielders that wish for nothing more than to "cut" to the chase. While the level won't scar kids for life, it certainly will have them (and even older players) feeling uneasy throughout.

Pokemon Tower - Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokemon: Let's Go, Eevee! (NSW)

In the already spooky village of Lavender Town, where things always seem a little bit... off, their stands a seven-floor tower whose shadow stretches beyond the town's borders. This tower is a burial ground for deceased Pokemon, and many of the spirits inside are restless, including a Marowak, which haunts the tower to this day. The Ghost Pokemon taking up residence in this tower cannot initially be seen, but with the help of the Silph Scope, their true forms reveal themselves, able to finally be battled. This includes the aforementioned Marowak, who by being reunited with its Cubone child that it was protecting when it perished, has its spirit set free, no longer haunting the tower. The overall vibe of the tower and the haunting music (especially the 8-bit version) played while inside make the Pokemon Tower one that sent chills up this player's spine when he had his very first Pokemon adventure back in 1999.

Big Boo's Haunt - Super Mario 64 (N64)

Our next level comes from the classic Nintendo 64 launch title that redefined 3D gaming, Super Mario 64. It's Big Boo's Haunt, a spooky mansion with a central lobby and multiple doors leading to a variety of creepy rooms. Some rooms feature flying books armed to the literal teeth with... well, TEETH, some feature fake floors, and one room in particular features a harmless-looking grand piano that when Mario approaches--oh, dear GOD, that thing has teeth, too!? Meanwhile, exploring the basement floor of the mansion reveals a crooked carousel that spins around, seeking to singe Mario with its fire jets, all the while playing a creepy carnival-esque theme. To say that Big Boo wishes Mario enjoys his stay at the specter's mansion would be something that couldn't be further from the truth.

The Bottom of the Well - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64, 3DS)

Speaking of the Nintendo 64 era and industry-defining games, we have a really spooky area which has part of its spookiness coming from the dark, relatively crude and unrefined graphics of the time. The other, more sizable part of this area's spookiness and creepiness comes from the fact that The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time mini-dungeon "The Bottom of the Well" is just freaking disturbing as all get out in the first place. Complete with Wallmasters, Like Likes, hidden passages, fake walls, Skulltulas, a bottom floor grotto filled with acid and surrounded by sleeping Gibdo mummies that want nothing more than to get up close and personal with Young Link (by, you know, strangling the life out of him), and a particular boss that is all "hands on" with its prey. As a kid I dreaded every time I had to visit the Bottom of the Well mini-dungeon and its follow-up, the Shadow Temple. Venturing through this well of horrors as Link's kid self, knowing such a place existed under the bustling and otherwise welcoming Kakariko Village, still fills me the occasional dread to this day.

Halloween Town - Kingdom Hearts series

Based off of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, Halloween Town is a Disney world that finds Sora, Goofy, and Donald visiting it multiple times within the Kingdom Hearts series. There are the visits in the first two numbered Kingdom Hearts games, as well as various handheld games like Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. Halloween Town features a myriad of points of interest that any Nightmare Before Christmas fan worth their weight in pumpkins would recognize immediately, such as Curly Hill and the Guillotine Plaza, which the latter serves as the central hub of the world. Kingdom Hearts II would further expand on the Christmas zone, offering players not only a significant helping of Halloween to satiate fans' appetites, but also a sizable offering of twisted holiday charm, too.

Hallowee Ville - Puppeteer (PS3)

If you're looking for Tim Burton-esque Halloween magic without Tim Burton actually having anything to do with its creation except by inspirational proxy, Hallowee Ville from Sony's insanely overlooked and underrated Puppeteer is a horror-fied place of the game that provides plenty of spooks and scares. From jump scares aplenty, zombie hands that poke out of the ground, a grim reaper boss that wishes to crush Puppeteer protagonist Kutaro with its bare bone hands, and a gigantic Pumpkin that not only barfs out ooze but also swallows our hero whole, requiring Kutaro to rush through its innards or else be crushed by its closing, pursuing line of teeth, Hallowee Ville isn't one to welcome its guests with open arms and well wishes. That's okay, though, because the challenge and horrors found inside make it all the more entertaining and memorable of a level.

Tawfret - Jet Force Gemini (N64)

The tragedy of the planet Tawfret of the Nintendo 64 cult classic Jet Force Gemini from Rare is a sad one. A once hospitable planet in the galaxy full of leafy forests and lovely lakes, the environment of the planet turned into a swampland and full of murky marshes under a perpetually gloomy and stormy sky. When Emperor Mizar's drone army took the planet under his control, a local shaman and king of the Tribals inflicted a zombification curse on the army. Now, under the spooky skies and scary setting of Tawfret lie a nightmare come to life, enemies that are true zombies in every sense of the word. Tawfret is the third and final planet Juno, one of the three protagonists of Jet Force Gemini, ventures to before reaching Mizar's Palace, and it's not exactly the most welcoming environment in the game. Housing a bog, bridge, and castle settlements, constant downpours, flashes of lightning, and an understated but tense score to it, Tawfret very much applies as a spooky setting in a non-horror video game.

Haunted Woods - Diddy Kong Racing (N64)

The final of four tracks in the Dragon Forest area of one of my favorite kart racers ever created, Diddy Kong Racing, is Haunted Woods. The Dragon Forest selection of tracks is mostly medieval-themed with some courtyards, castles, and of course, as the Dragon Forest area name would suggest, forests. The Haunted Woods track is a rather short track compared to the other three inside the area, having players navigate around a fountain in a central courtyard before entering into a castle tunnel leading to a windy section of track, curving around a twisted, tall, and large tree trunk. It's here that ghosts and specters in the shape of villain Wizpig's head float around to haunt passersby with their crooked grins and mocking laughs. Short but sweet, Diddy Kong Racing's Haunted Woods delivers a Halloween-style track under sinister burnt umber skies.

Happy Halloween: Spooky Levels in Non-Horror Video Games

Happy Halloween to all readers regular and passersby here at SuperPhillip Central! May your day be full of terror-ific fun! Man, I'm using puns as bad as the Cryptkeeper here! Nonetheless, it wouldn't be Halloween on SuperPhillip Central without some special article, and what better way to bring this haunted holiday than with a collection of some of my favorite spooky levels from video games. However, it'd be way too easy to mention those twisted locales from horror games, so we're going to take a look at some scary sights from non-horror video games. This list is hardly all of my favorites, so for some others, I guess we'll just have to wait until next Halloween!

Ghost Houses - Super Mario World

Super Mario World introduced a lot of new concepts to the world of Mario. From Yoshi to secret exits in levels to a new level type: ghost houses. The various ghost houses in Super Mario World are usually the most fiendish levels in the game. The enemies are usually impossible to keep down or even defeat for that matter, and if the enemies don't do you in, the multitude of fake doors leading to areas you've already been will play with your mind. The exits to these ghost houses are usually found through some type of puzzle, not quite like the normal levels where you can just run from one end of the level to the other. Some ghost houses are even home to the behemoth Big Boo, which makes for a rather exciting boss fight against someone other than Bowser or his Koopalings.

Twisted Mansion - Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)

I was mulling over which spooky race in Mario Kart I would have represent the series on this list. It was between this pick and Luigi's Mansion from Mario Kart DS and again in Mario Kart 7 as a retro race. However, Luigi's Mansion will be represented next, albeit in a different game series. Regardless, Twisted Mansion takes place under cloudy skies in a mysterious mansion where the track starts by driving through the entrance. After a split consisting of two parallel undulating pathways, a left U-turn curve is made. A shortcut that cuts off this curve is available to those with a Mushroom, jetting them through a tunnel full of bookshelves. Either way, you end up going underwater in a submerged basement filled with ultimately harmless but gruesome all the same fish made of nothing but bone. After escaping this damp dungeon, you glide over an outdoor fountain, ride up some steps on a slight curve and head towards the finish line, attempting to avoid a trio of statues that wish to pound you into pudding. Twisted Mansion has the look of a scary course, and it's just an overall fun haunt to race around on.

Luigi's Mansion - Luigi's Mansion (GCN)

Not only is Luigi's Mansion the star of the game of the same name (besides Luigi, of course), but it's also its own character really as well. The entire game takes place in and around the grounds of the mansion. The mansion only allows Luigi to explore a small amount of rooms at first, investigating them with his trusty Poltergust. Through gaining keys from solving simple to complex puzzles and taking on bosses, Luigi gains access to larger parts of the mansion. The environments of Luigi's Mansion are teeming with personality and ambiance, providing the character of the mansion that I talked about earlier. While the game is hardly scary at all, this ambiance gives the entire mansion an endearingly haunted charm.

Mad Monster Mansion - Banjo-Kazooie (N64, XBLA)

From one mansion to another, a late level in Banjo-Kazooie, which just so happens to remain my favorite 3D collect-a-thon-style platformer around, Mad Monster Mansion is a sprawling but dense level set under a midnight sky. Full of skeleton enemies, ghosts, and tricky bats, Mad Monster Mansion also contains lots of unique landmarks. The mansion itself rests in the center of the level, as the main point of interest. Banjo and Kazooie can even explore many of its rooms through smashing through windows. To the mansion's west is a shrub maze where ghoulish ghosts make their home, while to the north of that is an old cathedral where a ghostly hand tickles the ivories of a massive church organ. It's a haunted level full of tricks and treats, Mad Monster Mansion is a favorite spooky level of mine.

Haukke Manor - Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (Multi)

There's nothing like a good story and background on a spooky setting to send chills down one's spine. The story behind Haukke Manor is one of a vain woman who desired to keep her beauty no matter what. It started with simple creams and tinctures, but when that wasn't enough, the woman started using the blood of her servants. Eventually she signed away her soul for eternal beauty, and her damned spirit still roams the halls of Haukke Manor. The manor itself is dripping with creepy atmosphere, and the battle encounters players find themselves participating in whether intentionally or not takes them fighting a myriad of macabre foes, including the vain woman of legend herself.

Pumpkin Hill - Sonic Adventure 2 (Multi)

The first level that players assume control of Knuckles during the Hero side of Sonic Adventure 2's dual-story setup, Pumpkin Hill is littered with the titular produce whether it's small pumpkins or massive-sized pumpkin structures strewn about in the horizon. Alongside the pumpkins are other spooky sights, such as villainous ghost enemies, gravestones, and skeletons. The goal of Knuckles' levels is to find three emerald shards hidden in different locations. Each time you play, the locations are switched up. But Knuckles ain't gonna let it get to him, as he's just gonna creep. Why let me say it, when you can hear it and see a jaunty little dance simultaneously?

Hang Castle - Sonic Heroes (PS2, GCN, XBX)

A less notorious pick from the Sonic the Hedgehog series than Sonic Adventure 2's Pumpkin Hill, due to a massive lack of memes and Knuckles raps, Hang Castle is a level in the second half of Sonic Heroes. It features Gothic-style architecture, crazy loops, and a foreboding sky. However, that isn't the main draw of this level. You see, Hang Castle has a rather clever mechanic to it. At different points in the level, Hang Castle becomes inverted, so the sky is now below Sonic and friends' feet and platforms that couldn't be accessed before can now be walked on. It's a wonderfully ingenious idea for a Sonic level, pending you can stomach Sonic Heroes long enough to reach it.

Shade Man's Stage - Mega Man 7 (SNES)

Let's go retro for this final example of a spooky level from a non-horror genre video game with Shade Man's stage from Mega Man 7, an often underrated entry in the series. Shade Man's stage feels very much like it escaped from Capcom's own Ghost 'n Goblins series, which is pretty coincidental that you can actually input a code before entering the level to hear the famous Ghost 'n Goblins theme instead of the stage's normal song. Regardless, you get robotic zombies rising from the ground and out of standing coffins, bats that awaken and fly downward in the Blue Bomber's path, and dangerous obstacles like platforms that smash downward, not inflicting instant death, but lots of pain instead. The midboss, a robotic pumpkin, holds the secret to two different alternate paths in the level, depending on where you inflict the final shot on it. From exploring the outside cemetery to entering the manic mansion, Shade Man's stage is highly memorable, probably the most memorable stage in Mega Man 7's decidedly impressive collection of levels.